Jazmine Sullivan achieves career-high on Billboard chart with ‘Heaux Tales’
The R&B singer who hails from Philadelphia is back with her latest release, one her fans say is among her best work
Jazmine Sullivan’s latest project Heaux Tales continues to get recognition.
The 33-year-old Philadelphia native recently dropped the new release after a five-year break. Her last project, Reality Show, came out in January of 2015. The highly anticipated Heaux Tales dropped on Jan. 8 and has already made it to #4 on the Billboard charts.
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Sullivan, who is known for her soulful voice and hits like “Need U Bad” “Bust Your Windows” and “Forever Doesn’t Last” sat down with Billboard to discuss her hiatus, how her fans are responding to the new album and what inspired the range of songs.
She tells the publication she didn’t mean to step away from the music scene for so long.
“As far as length of time, it’s not really intentional,” said Sullivan. “I’ll just chill for a second and then a little break turns into a longer break. But as long as it turns out to be, I do feel breaks are necessary. Taking breaks when you’re younger, it feels different than when you’re older. For one thing, getting yourself back into the swing of things is different, both physically and vocally. I’m starting to understand that now. It’s a different kind of building back up as you get older … even things like getting up earlier and doing interviews.”
Fans are calling Heaux Tales one of the best R&B albums they have heard in a while.
She continues:
“I’m amazed people are telling me I sound stronger and more confident on this project,” she said. “I’ve battled with myself to feel confident in who I am since I was a kid, and I’m still working at it. So [these songs] were inevitable, and the tales are simply conversations that I’ve had with my girlfriends since forever about regular life; things I’ve been hearing and talking about since we were in high school. Now I’m just glad that people can hear them and hopefully relate to them in some kind of way.”
Sullivan says that relationship drama, sexuality and societal expectations were some of the things that she covered in the album as she contends with all of those things herself.
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“Feeling undervalued, unappreciated and overlooked, even as we work harder, is always in the back of women’s minds,” she adds. “This project is about taking up this space and doing so in a way that you choose to, not because you’re told how to by men or society. How I present myself is how I choose to, and you’re going to accept it. Women are really standing in their confidence and power now, and I wanted to add to that in this way. I see it so much in the new artists and other women who are shining now. It makes me proud.”
Watch the video for “Pick Up Your Feelings” below:
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